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Sept-'6, 1932- T. w. ELDER. JR., ET AL HOPPER CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 6, 1932- T. w. ELDER. JRJ, ET AL 1,376,404

HOPPER CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 50, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l llllll lIl Patented Sept. 6, 1932 "UN D STATES PATENT OFFICE;

THOMAS W. ELDER, JR., F BROOKLYN, AND ADOLPH KASSLER, 0F NEW YOBK, N. Y., 1 ASSIGNORSTO AMERICAN CAR, AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,, A

' COBPDRATEOIN 935' NEW I! l HOIPPER CAR DOOR OPERATING- MECI IANISM Applicatipn" filed June 30,

This invention relates generally to cars of the dumping type and more particularlyto a gable bottom side dump car, it being one object of the invention to provideimproved means for operating and controlling the disof the lading.

. In one specific aspect of the invention the above and other results are obtained by incorporating an improved counterweight controlled actuating means [in a car provided with alongitudinal winding shaft having winding elements extending in opposite'lateral directions for connection to the side doors. The control means serves not only as a ratchet during closing of the doors but also to effect a graduation of the door opening. This general arrangement is such that one winding shaft and operating mechanism therefor is employed to actuate either or both doors sides. To provide a relativelysimple arrangement for permitting only one door or the other to be'operated if desired, suitable means are employed to hold oneor the other of the doors in closed position while permitting the winding mechanism therefor to operate in its normal manner as if doors on each side were operated simultaneously.

Qther objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a car, parts of which are broken away to show details of construction,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one end of a car, parts of which are also broken away toshow details ofconstruction,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the winding operating mechanism for the windingshaft'suc as shown inFig. 1;

In the drawings there is shown, merely for the purpose of illustrating one specific 1931 Serial no. 547,912;

may be employed. .7

To operate and control these :doors a coir tinuous longitudinal winding shaft 8, extending from one end of the car to the other and located in the center thereof above the center sill and under the peak of the sloped floor sheets 2, is j ournaled in a suitable bearing 9 formed in a bracket 9' attached to the ends 5 and to the upwardly extending flange 5' of an angle 6 arranged adjacent the channel end sill 7 of the underframe of the can More particularly, the bracket 9 is secured to a plate 23 extending between and connected to a pair of vertical angles 24' secured to'the end 5 of the body and to the vertical flange 5 of angle 6 of the underframe as shown clearly in Fig. 1. This shaft is attached to the doors by winding chains 10 and 11 arranged in pairs, one pair near each end of the car and one pair at the center thereof. These chains are connected to the winding shaft in any usual manner so that one chain may extend from the lower side thereof and the other from the top whereby rotation of the shaft in one direction will tend to operate both sets of side doors in the same manner. One of the chains in each pair is connected to its respective side door by means of an adjustable eye-bolt 12 which is anchored to a flanged casting 13 secured to the outer ends of a bulb angle 14 extend-' ing longitudinally. of the door and overhanging the ends thereof as indicated at 14, Fig 2. In a hopper type of car such as shown here the center pair of chains are disposed between the adjacent ends of the hoppers which it is not necessary to show herein as it would be duplication of the construction just described.

The operating end of the winding shaft 8 is provided at one end of the car with a gear 15 driven by a pinion 16 which is suitably mounted on a short horizontal operating shaft 17 journaled in a bearing bracket 18, this bracket constituting an upward extension of the bracket for bearing 9. A ratchet wheel 19 is adapted to be engaged, Fig. 1, by a reversible counterweight pawl general- 1y indicated at 20, while an operating wheel 21 is secured to the outer end of shaft 17. It will be noted that the reversible counterweight pawl 20 is provided with a door opening graduation tooth 22 and a door closing tooth 22. With the pawl device in the dotted line position 23 as shown in Fig. 1 the weight of the counterweight and its leverage together with the mechanical advantage of the gears and door chains is suffrcient to permit pawl 20 to prevent the weight of the doors and load to rotate the ratchet. However the inclination of the ratchet teeth is such that additional external force manually applied to the wheel by the operator or otherwise will cause the pawl to release suiliciently and permit rotation of the ratchet. Thus, when the operator removes his hand from the wheel it will be automatically held in position as the pawl will engage the next tooth. Thus the doors can be opened and held at any desired degree whereas if the pawl device is swung to the full line position the pawl 20 will prevent reverse rotation of the wheel and thus prevent reopening of the doors while the same are in process of being closed.

To enable the operator to open either of the door sides there is provided a locking de vice on each side of the car which includes rods 24 mounted in bearings 25 which are secured to the floor sheet bottom stiffener 26.

Brackets 27 are secured to the rod forcoopera-.

tion with a locking finger 28 pivoted as at 29 to the bracket 25. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 2 that the locking finger extends upwardly to engage the lower edge of the door sides when in closed position and is so held by the U- shaped member 27 in which the fingers are disposed. These fingers are released due to their outer surface being sufliciently curvedso that upon rotation of the rod 24 in one direction, brackets 27 will swing down to release the locking fingers 28 which will thereupon drop to the dotted line posia tion 30. Reclosure of these fingers is accomplished merely by rotating the rod in the opposite direction and to effect this rotation there are provided hand levers 31 integrally connected thereto and which operate in opposite directions relatively to each other. The upper end of these hand levers overlap a bracket 32 secured to the end of the car body and are held in fixed position by a ring encircling both the bracket 32 and the hand lever 31. The hand lever may be released by moving the ring to the upper end of the bracket 82.

In the operation it is readily seen that if both door sides are to be opened the rings 33 are moved so as to release each of the hand levers31 and the counterweight 20 thrown to the dotted position so as to permit manual rotation of wheel 21 until the desired degree of door opening is obtained at which time pawl 20 will automatically hold the ratchet and doors in position for the reasons previously given. To reclose the doors the pawl 20 is swung to its full line position whereupon the operator can rewind the chains 10 and 11 upon winding shaft 8 and the doors will be prevented from swinging open by pawl tooth 22 during this operation. If it is desired to open one and not the other of the doors the rod for that particular set of doors will not be released thereby positively holding that set of doors closed, but permitting operation of the other doors by the winding mechanism just described. During this operation the tension on one of the chains will be released although it will not permit this door to open due to the lock rod therefor being in closed position. It is thus seen that with this arrangement a very simple and yet positive mechanism is provided for opening both doors simultaneously, or either door alone and at the same time the degree of opening may be definitely and positively controlled combined with a desirable degree of flexibility in manually operating the wheel so as to be able to obtain graduation of door opening merely by rotating the wheel in the opening direction.

From the foregoing disclosure it will of course be understood that various changes and rearrangements may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination in a dumping car comprising a body having a discharge door, operating means for effecting opening and closing of said door including a rotatable memher having a ratchet associated therewith, and pawl mechanism engageable with said ratchet during both opening and closing of said door and adapted to hold said door in any given position automatically upon ceasing actuation of the door operating means.

2. The combination in a dumping car comprising a body having discharge doors on each side thereof, manually operable means for effecting opening of said doors on each side, and means, common to the doors on each side, normally biased toward permitting opening thereof but restraining such action, said biased means being rendered operative to permit opening of the doors by applyin g additional manual force to said manually operable means.

8. The combination in a dumping car comprising a body having discharge doors on each side thereof, a common Winding shaft extending longitudinally of the body, chains extending laterally in opposite directions from said shaft to said doors, a hand operating wheel, reduction gearing between said wheel and winding shaft, a ratchet operatively associated with said gearing and-shaft, and a reversible counterweighted pawl engageable With said ratchet.

4. The combination in a dumping car comprising a body having discharge doors on each side thereof, a common winding shaft extending longitudinally of the body, chains extending laterally in opposite directions from .said shaft to said doors, means for locking both of said doors against opening and permitting release of only one if desired, and means whereby with one or both doors unlocked they may be individually or simultaneously opened, including a hand operating wheel, reduction gearing between said Wheel and winding shaft, a ratchet operatively associated with said gearing and shaft, and a reversible counterweighted pawl engageable with said ratchet.

5. In a dumping car comprising an underframe having an end sill, a body, a discharge door adapted to swing to open position by gravity, a winding shaft, flexible means connected to the door and shaft, a bracket adjacent the end sill in which the winding shaft is journaled, an operating shaft at an elevation above said winding shaft and having a pinion secured thereto, a gear secured to the winding shaft in meshing relation with .said pinion, and pawl and ratchet means for retaining said operating shaft in any predetermined position whereby to control the po-' sition of said door.

6. In a dumping car comprising an underframe having an end sill and a body, the latter having a discharge door adapted to swing to open position by gravity, means for controling portions, said winding shaft being journaled in one of said bearing portions, an operating shaft in the other bearing portion and having a pinion secured thereto, a ratchet secured to said operating shaft, a gear secured P a In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

THOMAS W. ELDER, JR. ADOLPI-I KASSLER.

ling said discharge door comprising a winding shaft, flexible. means connected to the door and shaft, a bracket adjacent the end sill in which the winding shaft is journaled, said bracket including upper bearings, an operating shaft ournaled in the upper bearings and having a pinion secured thereto, :a gear secured to the winding shaft in meshing relation with said pinion, and pawl and ratchet means in cooperative relation to said operating shaft for retaining the latter in any predetermined position.

7. In a dumping car comprising an underframe and a body, the latter having a discharge door adapted to swingto open position I by gravity, means for controlling the oper- .ation of the door comprising a winding shaft, flexible means connecting said shaft and door, a bracket support secured to the underframe adjacent the end thereof, a bracket secured to said support and provided with spaced bear- 

